Ninety Six
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Ninety Six was established in the early 1700s. It derived its name from the mistaken belief that it was 96 miles to the nearest Cherokee settlement of Keowee. The National Park Service has established a National Historic Site there to mark the location of the settlement.
Ninety Six also figured prominently in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution. The first land battle south of New England was fought here in 1775 and in 1780, the British fortified the strategically important frontier town. From May 22 to June 18, 1781 Major General Nathanael Greene, with 1,000 patriot troops, staged the longest (yet unsuccessful) siege of the Revolutionary War against 550 loyalists who were defending Ninety Six.
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